Landing the Big Ones [Hedon Falls] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Read online

  Hedon Falls

  Landing the Big Ones

  When single mom Serena Keegan finally gives in to her son's pleas for a pet, they decide that fish are the perfect option for their apartment lifestyle. They quickly discover that they have a lot to learn about their aquatic friends. Thankfully, Dalton's Aquariums and More! is there to help. The owners, identical twins Lance and Liam Dalton, both find themselves attracted to her. They are eager to provide her with the assistance she needs, for the pets and for more…personal matters.

  Serena’s past experience with men has been less than stellar, and she worries she and her son will end up hurt. Despite these fears, she finds herself falling for the sexy store owners, whose talents extend well beyond business. But Liam has a past he hasn't told her about, and when Serena finds out, it threatens their growing love.

  Note: There is no sexual relationship or touching for titillation between or among siblings.

  Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre

  Length: 46,727 words

  LANDING THE BIG ONES

  Hedon Falls

  Michelle Graham

  MENAGE AMOUR

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  ABOUT THE E-BOOK YOU HAVE PURCHASED: Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to only ONE LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on your own personal computer or device. You do not have resell or distribution rights without the prior written permission of both the publisher and the copyright owner of this book. This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law. Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online, offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet to be invented, is forbidden. If you do not want this book anymore, you must delete it from your computer.

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Ménage Amour

  LANDING THE BIG ONES

  Copyright © 2013 by Michelle Graham

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-62242-311-8

  First E-book Publication: February 2013

  Cover design by Harris Channing

  All cover art and logo copyright © 2013 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  V.I.P

  Letter to Readers

  Dear Readers,

  If you have purchased this copy of Landing the Big Ones by Michelle Graham from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

  Regarding E-book Piracy

  This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.

  The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.

  This is Michelle Graham’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Graham’s right to earn a living from her work.

  Amanda Hilton, Publisher

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  www.BookStrand.com

  DEDICATION

  For Sam. It’s not fair that you were taken so soon. You were in my thoughts a great deal while I wrote this book, and though a book character can never replace you, it has helped to ease the pain.

  LANDING THE BIG ONES

  Hedon Falls

  MICHELLE GRAHAM

  Copyright © 2013

  Chapter 1

  “Please, Mom! Please! Please! Pretty please?”

  Serena Keegan sighed and patted her son Sam’s head. “Honey, we can’t have pets in the apartment. I’ve told you this a thousand times already.”

  Sam’s lower lip pushed out further, and he gazed up at his mother with wide eyes and a sad expression. “But I really want a pet, Mommy,” he said.

  “You are nothing but a con artist and I am not falling for your puppy dog face, so save it.”

  Sam’s forehead crinkled severely, and his eyebrows drew together. He folded his arms across his chest and marched ahead of Serena as they made their way through the Hedon Falls grocery store.

  She sighed again. They had had this argument over and over, and it always went the same way. Sam asks for pet. Mom says no. Sam asks again. Mom says no. Sam begs. Mom says no and tries to reason with him. Sam makes puppy eyes and tries to guilt Mom into it. Mom says no. Sam gets grumpy and storms away. Wait two or three days. Repeat.

  They lived in a small two-bedroom apartment, and the building had a strict policy against pets. But in the mind of an eight-year-old, that was a stupid rule and they should get whatever they wanted. Serena really didn’t like saying no. She had enjoyed her pets over the years, and her parents still had a dog that they could visit. But it just wasn’t the same. She wanted Sam to have all the things she could give him. She felt guilty when she couldn’t. It just wasn’t possible, though.

  Serena finished the shopping while Sam stubbornly dished out the silent treatment. She secretly liked this aspect of her son. Not only did it give her some quiet, but she didn’t have to endure the screaming fits so many other parents did. They drove home in silence, put away the food in silence, and ate in silence. Pure bliss!

  After dinner, as they did the dishes together, Serena asked, “So are you going to speak to me again?”

  Sam gave a huge exaggerated sigh accompanied by a superb roll of the eyes. “I guess.”

  “Well, don’t strain yourself. If it’s too much effort, don’t bother. You can just head to bed.”

  “But it’s only six thirty!” he cried in outrage. “And it’s a Friday!”

  Serena smiled. “Fine. You can stay up if you tell me about your day.”

  “Jake got in trouble today,” Sam began. “He went to the bathroom and he stayed out for twenty minutes, and Mrs. Bowden had to call the office…”

  Sam kept up a running monologue for quite a while. He talked all through his bath while Serena sat across the hall, working on the computer. He kept interrupting when she read him a story to mention some tidbit he forgot. Even after she had tucked him in and said good night, he came out twice more to tell her something else.

  When her son had finally fallen asleep, she sat back on the couch and tucked her feet up behind her. She called her best friend Lisa, something she’d been meaning to do for a few days and hadn’t.

  “Hey, Serena,” Lisa said when she answered the phone. “What’s up?”

  “Same story, different day,” Serena replied. “I only just got Sam to sleep. He gave me the silent treatment for a good hour this evening so he
had to make up for it by talking nonstop the rest of the time.”

  Lisa laughed. “Crazy kid. It’s like he has a quota of words he needs to speak in a day. What was the silent treatment for?”

  “He’s asking for a pet again.”

  “Ah yes,” Lisa said.

  “I feel bad about saying no. Even if the lease didn’t prohibit them, a dog is so much work and cats are just so unfriendly,” Serena said.

  “Does the lease say ‘no pets’ or does it say ‘no cats and dogs’?” Lisa asked.

  “I would have to check,” Serena replied. “Why?”

  “Have you thought about a fish? They don’t take up a lot of room if you just get a small tank. They’re quiet and they won’t trash the place if you leave them alone for too long,” Lisa said. “And they won’t shit all over either.”

  Serena laughed. “That’s very true,” she said. “I guess I would have to check. Maybe tomorrow.”

  The friends chatted for a while longer and then hung up. Serena completed some more work for a presentation she had to give on Monday and finally went to bed just before midnight. As she lay there, she thought about Lisa’s idea. Maybe a fish wouldn’t be so bad after all. And it might just keep Sam happy until they were able to find a house. Hell, he might forget about a dog or cat altogether.

  * * * *

  The sudden bright light caused Serena to jolt awake. “What’s going on?” she said groggily.

  Sam ran to her bed from the window and jumped on top of it. “Time to get up, Mom,” he scolded. “You’ve slept in too long.”

  Serena flopped back down and pulled the quilt over her head. “It’s too early to get up,” she grumbled.

  “It’s eight o’clock,” Sam told her. “I’ve been up since seven and I waited just like you want me to. But now you have to get up.”

  Serena feigned sleep from under the covers, not responding to her son.

  “Mom?” Sam asked.

  When he leaned closer to look, Serena jumped up and grabbed him in a hug. He squealed with laughter, his rich giggles making her laugh along with him. She had his arms pinned to his sides by the blanket and she leaned in and blew raspberries against his cheek. Fresh peals of laughter rang through the room and soon they were gasping for breath.

  “Okay, enough horsing around,” Serena said when she could talk again. “You go watch TV while I get in the shower. I’ll be out soon.”

  Sam scampered out of the room and Serena got up, showered, and dressed. She went into the kitchen and began cooking their traditional Saturday breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and bacon. She called Sam into the room and they sat down to eat.

  “I was talking to Lisa last night about the pet thing,” Serena told him between bites.

  Sam sat up a little straighter, his big eyes widening even more. “What did she say?” he asked.

  “She thought it might be good to try fish,” Serena explained. “They aren’t noisy or messy like a dog or cat would be. I have to check with the superintendent, but I think they would allow it, if that’s something that interests you.”

  Sam’s eyes were shining with excitement. “How about a snake?” he suggested.

  “Absolutely not!” Serena replied. “It’s fish or nothing, mister.”

  “I had to try,” Sam said. “But fish would be cool, too. Can we go get one today? Please, Mom!”

  “We can do some research at the aquarium store,” Serena said. “Maybe we’ll get the fish today. Maybe!” She smiled when Sam did a fist pump and jumped out of his chair.

  “I’m going to go look online to see what kind of fish I want!” he called back as he raced to the computer in her room.

  Serena smiled and cleaned up the breakfast dishes. She dug out a copy of her lease and read through it. It did say no pets, but she had a hunch they might be willing to let a fish slip through. Just to be sure, she called the superintendent.

  “Hi, Manny,” she said when he answered the phone.

  “Hey, Serena!” he responded. “Let me guess—you called to ask me out, right?”

  “Manny, you know I love you, but you’re just too hot for me. I wouldn’t want to fight all the other women off.”

  “Fine, fine,” Manny said. “So what do you need? Want me to come check out your pipes?”

  Though he couldn’t see it, Serena rolled her eyes at him. Manny was harmless enough, and their banter was light, but she always had the thought that perhaps it wouldn’t take much on her part to turn things more serious.

  “Not today, Manny,” she told him. “No men for me right now. I actually had a question about the no-pets policy.”

  “What do you need to know?”

  “Sam keeps bugging me for a pet, and I know a cat or dog is out of the question, but what about a fish? Do you think that would be okay?”

  “A fish?” Manny said. “Yeah, a fish would be okay. Just not one of those big-ass tanks that take up half the room.”

  “Not to worry, Manny,” Serena replied. “We are definitely thinking small. Thanks so much! Sam will be a very happy boy.”

  She hung up the phone and called out the good news to Sam.

  Half an hour later, Serena and Sam pulled into the parking lot at Dalton’s Aquariums and More! at the South Hedon Falls Shopping Mall. The word mall was a bit optimistic. More like South Hedon Falls Small Collection of Stores That Don’t Want To Pay Outrageous Retail Rent. But that wouldn’t fit on the sign.

  Hedon Falls was a midsized community of about forty thousand in southern Ontario. It was a thirty-five minute drive to Toronto, and many of its residents commuted. Serena was not one of them. She had taken a job as a Marketing Coordinator at Greely’s Marketing Firm in Hedon Falls two years earlier, after working in Toronto for years. She liked that it still had that small-town feel, but with lots of great amenities. Having grown up in Toronto, she didn’t want to get too far from city life but felt it was the perfect place for her to raise her son.

  After finding a parking space, Sam bounded out of the car before Serena even had the engine turned off.

  “Wait!” she yelled after him, thankful that he paused to look for oncoming cars before bolting to the doors. Serena quickly followed.

  The aquarium store was much larger than Serena thought it would be. As she walked in, she immediately noticed the huge tank that dominated the front of the store. It was easily a few hundred gallons and more like a tank you would see at a zoo. Inside she could see a variety of fish swimming around, and the large, very ugly head of something that resembled an eel.

  “Mom, isn’t it cool?” Sam shouted, his face pressed to the tank. “Can we get an eel?”

  Serena shuddered. An eel was almost as bad as a snake! “No,” she said firmly.

  He raced away from the large tank, deeper into the store. Serena saw aisles of aquarium supplies lined up and tanks of small fish lining the entire back wall and parts of the side walls. Holy crap. That’s a lot of selection. She followed in Sam’s wake as he flitted back and forth between tanks, babbling about the colours he liked, exclaiming over the tank decorations and calling back suggestions to her. It was very overwhelming, and she realized she had no idea where to start.

  Almost as if her thoughts conjured him, a man behind her said, “Is there something I can help you with, Miss?”

  Serena turned and her breath caught. She looked up at the tall man and found her eyes locked onto his. They were a rich chocolate brown with a hint of a mischievous twinkle. Tiny lines at the sides of them suggested he was a bit older, but he still had a full head of gorgeous chocolate-brown hair that matched his eyes beautifully. She could see a smile tugging at the corners of his delicious-looking mouth and she thought briefly about what it would be like to have that mouth pressed against her. She gave her head a quick shake. Holy hell. I don’t remember the last time I wondered about a strange man that way. Before she could actually say anything, Sam bounded over and saved the day.

  “We want to get a fish!” he proclaimed.

&nb
sp; The man smiled. “We can certainly help you there.” His voice was rich and melodic, the tones reminiscent of a radio host. “Do you have a freshwater or a marine tank?” he asked.

  “Oh, umm…” Gee, Serena, you sound soooo intelligent. “We don’t have one yet.” What the hell was a marine tank?

  “If you don’t have a tank yet, why don’t we start there? It takes a week or so to get one up and running before you can add fish anyway,” he told them as he led them to an aisle with tanks of various sizes and shapes.

  “A week?” Sam said. “Why do we have to wait a week?”

  “You have to make sure the water has the right balance of chemicals or it could shock the fish and they can die,” he explained. “You should also add a bacteria supplement to start with and that needs some time to spread through the tank.”

  “Bacteria supplement?” Serena said. “Why do they need that?”

  “It’s a beneficial bacteria,” he said as he bent down to a low shelf to select a bottle.

  Serena admired the view of his ass. It was a very nice ass. Round and firm, and it filled his pants quite nicely. She could feel her panties beginning to dampen. Get a fucking grip! she told herself.

  The man straightened and proceeded to explain the benefits of the bacteria as well as a water conditioner. He talked mostly to Sam, seeming to sense that the boy’s mother was a bit of a ditz. Sam listened with rapt attention, nodding enthusiastically as the man explained how to get the tank going. Soon he and Sam had decided that tropical fish in a freshwater tank would be best, and he was explaining the features of the different tanks and accessories. Serena tried to pay attention but found her eyes wandering to the front of his pants, which seemed to be a bit strained, as though something was pushing against them.